If BloodClan won
by alphayamergo
Summary: Sandstorm's not sure about much right now, but she's certain she needs to escape.


**A/n: What the I don't even.**

**As you probably gathered, this story gained a mind of its own half way through. "SandxScourge? Nah. Let's have Sandstorm run away instead!"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.**

The clearing was dead silent. Sandstorm hardly dares to breathe. Blood pounds in her ears, and she would not have been able to hear anything, even if there was something to hear.

The forest cats had stopped fighting their opponents. They stare at Scourge now, and the flame coloured body that had once been Firestar.

_Firestar is… dead? _Sandstorm wouldn't believe it. How could her brave leader, her beloved mate, be dead? Surely it wasn't possible. Surely!

She prays this is a nightmare. She prays that she will wake up to Dustpelt prodding her and saying that he thought he'd be able to get a good night's sleep once Firestar was out of the den, and why was she fidgeting anyway?

Scourge licks his deadly paws, then lifts his head and speaks. His little voice seems all the more frightening now as he mews, "Kill the other leaders." Tallstar, Leopardstar and Blackfoot all start, not expecting this. BloodClan warriors start forward, sinking their teeth in and hauling them away.

Cinderpelt limps rapidly out of the bushes. She holds herbs in her jaws, and Sandstorm recognises thyme. _For shock, _she recalls. The medicine cat drops the herbs in front of Sandstorm. _For…me? But shouldn't there be other cats needing them more?_

Sandstorm recognizes the grief and cloudy look in Cinderpelt's eyes. _She know why I need them. She's in shock, too. _For a second the ginger she-cat doesn't remember why Cinderpelt would be in shock, too. _Oh, that's right! She loves Firestar, too._

"Get rid of the useless," Scourge meows. Two BloodClan warriors hook their claws into Cinderpelt before Sandstorm figures out he means her.

"No!" the pale ginger she-cat yowls, leaping on one of the BloodClan cats. He shakes her off with ease – she is no match for him – but she keeps trying. But despite her efforts, Cinderpelt lays dead, mangled and lifeless.

"Bring the disobedient," the small black tyrant meows, and as he meets her eyes and smirks, Sandstorm realizes with a pang of horror he means her. And as the two BloodClan cats – a tortoiseshell she-cat and a white tom – who killed Cinderpelt pad towards her, Sandstorm's strength fails and she doesn't know what to do.

Then Dustpelt leaps out of the throng of cats. He was her closest friend once, and Sandstorm knows she'd do the same for him, but she wishes he hadn't. Graystripe leaps at the white tom, and Sandstorm realizes from the look in his eyes that he doesn't want to stay on Earth. He wants to go to StarClan, to see his best friend and his mate, the silver tabby RiverClan she-cat.

For a second it looks like they might overpower them, might even save her, but the BloodClan leader has no intention of letting her go. He flicks his tail and other cats pad forward. The pale ginger she-cat can hear Ferncloud's mew of distress, Stormpaw and Featherpaw's high-pitched wailing, but it's very vague and she stares with wide eyes as her two friends are slaughtered.

_May you find peace with StarClan,_ she thinks as the white tom and tortoiseshell bundle her away, towards ShadowClan territory.

Some of BloodClan is following behind them, though Sandstorm hardly notices. In an abstract thought, she notes that there is some staying behind, to keep the Clans in line, she guesses. The ginger she-cat hardly needs to be forced as she pads towards what used to be the ShadowClan camp, her head bowed and tail dragging. She stares at the ground, feeling sick and wishing she was going to wake up. Without realizing, she lets out a mew of distress as the white tom pushes her forwards again. Rough _mrrow_s of laughter sound, and Sandstorm stumbles as a she-cat pushes her, meowing in an important voice, "What a brave cat! She rivals even Scourge!"

Sandstorm can hear more laughter, but she hardly realizes it's directed at her, distracted by her own memories. Not good ones – never pleasant ones – but of the battle: Firestar's body, Cinderpelt lying lifeless, and her friends being murdered.

Ahead of her she sees the leaders of ShadowClan, RiverClan and WindClan, and she flinches as blood splatters on her as a BloodClan cat leaps at Tallstar, the oldest and, in their opinion, the weakest. Scourge appears before her, and the tortoiseshell forces her into crouching, though Sandstorm would like nothing more than to sink her claws into him.

"A first class seat," mews the BloodClan leader, sounding like he is mocking her. Quickly the tortoiseshell forces the ThunderClanner into a sitting position and hurries off as Scourge sits beside her. She shudders as his pelt brushes hers, and as she watches, Tallstar is sinking into an eerie trance that Sandstorm recognizes because of Bluestar. The BloodClan tom turns, thinking that he had finished the WindClan leader, meaning to attack Leopardstar next, who had been snarling at him and trying to attack since he first lunged at Tallstar. Sandstorm nearly cheers as Tallstar rises, and begins to spring at the BloodClan cat, but Scourge signals with his tail before Tallstar can reach him. Instantly the BloodClan cat turns and sinks his claws into Tallstar's throat, twisting them. Sandstorm flinches again as blood gurgles out. Tallstar collapses to the ground, and Sandstorm realizes that it was his last life.

"Your life now," whispers Scourge into her ear, flicking his tail towards the BloodClan cat who is now circling Leopardstar. The ThunderClan she-cat winces, but doesn't open her mouth to reply. Scourge takes it as submission and sits back, radiating smugness.

Blackfoot looks around, and Sandstorm wonders what he is thinking. Suddenly he launches himself towards them, landing on Scourge's back. As the small black cat hisses in surprise, Blackfoot yowls at her, "Run!"

She starts to, then hesitates. "Why?" she asks, her voice hoarse. She can see BloodClan cats already advancing towards them, about to bowl Blackfoot off their leader, but not wanting to because they want to see Scourge punish him. Blackfoot replies, "Because I don't want to be remembered as a murderer, Tigerstar's deputy." Sandstorm continues to hesitate, not wanting another cat to die for her. "Run!" This time it sounds more like a hiss of pain as Scourge batters his hind legs against the black-pawed ShadowClan tom.

"Thank you, Black_star_," she whispers. She hardly stays long enough to see the pleased light in his eyes, even if he is fighting to the death. She turns and flees, breaking through the lines of BloodClan. Some charge after her, but Sandstorm is fast, and used to undergrowth. She smirks as she ducks into the tunnel and hears puzzled mews from the BloodClan warriors. She may be on a different territory, but she still knows more short-cuts than them.

She bursts into ThunderClan territory, haring into the trees before the BloodClan cats can see her. Her paws lead her unwaveringly closer to the ThunderClan camp, and she is at the gorse tunnel in what seems like heartbeats. She can't hear anything as she charges wildly through the tunnel, and she can already feel herself panicking as she thinks of the elders and kits. The tunnel seems to take forever, but finally she's through, back into the camp.

She's bowled over immediately, and she hisses, trying to push the attacker off. "Stay out of my camp, BloodClan filth!" hisses the attacker, and Sandstorm relaxes immediately.

"Speckletail!" Her voice is only a whisper because of the shock, but Speckletail hears her all the same and freezes. The elder stares at the pale ginger she-cat, before finally letting her up.

The kits come bounding out of the nursery, Sorrelkit reaching her first. "Sandstorm!" she mews in delight. "When are the others coming back?"

Sandstorm feels her face contort, and the air around her suddenly becomes less cheery. "We have to leave," she tells what's left of the free ThunderClan. "Get off the territory – but not to far away, I think. In case somebody escapes."

Speckletail nods slowly, and she turns to Rainkit. "Fetch the elders," she orders. "We're leaving."

Sandstorm cannot help but feel relieved at the elders pad slowly out. _We'll survive. We must._ Her thoughts are desperate. _Firestar, Cinderpelt, Dustpelt, Graystripe, Blackfoot and all the others cannot have died for nothing._

And as they pad out of what used to be ThunderClan territory, she cannot help but feel thankful for what she has.


End file.
